Goalkeepers deceive themselves when facing penalty kicks

GOALIE GUESSWORK During penalty kick shootouts, goalkeepers suffer a logical glitch that often leads them to dive away from the ball.

Eser Karadağ/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Soccer goalkeepers routinely dive the wrong way because their minds presume trends that don’t exist, University College London scientists report July 31 in Current Biology.

During penalty kick shootouts, each team has five chances to score from 12 yards away from the goal with only the goalie protecting the net. Professional penalty kicks travel up to 80 miles per hour, giving goalkeepers less than half a second to react.

To make saves, many goalkeepers begin diving before the ball is hit, says coauthor Erman Misirlisoy, a cognitive neuroscientist.

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